Michigan breweries make move into Chicago White Sox park

Kalamazoo-based Bell's Brewery Inc., which created the popular Two-Hearted Ale, has signed on to sell its beers this year at Guaranteed Rate Field, home of the Chicago White Sox. Grand Rapids-based Founders Brewing Co. will also sell there.

Kalamazoo-based Bell's Brewery, the seventh-largest craft brewer in the country, and Founders Brewing of Grand Rapids will join Goose Island Brewery, a Chicago brand sold to Anheuser Busch InBev NV in 2011, and Los Angeles-based Pabst Brewing Co., among others, according to Crain's Chicago Business. The venue will promote all four sponsors on video boards and tie them in with promotions.

The inclusion of two of Michigan's most popular homegrown breweries comes as the White Sox make a move toward craft beer, doubling the number of brands offered at the stadium to about 100.

It remains to be seen if Bell's and Founders' loyal fan bases — which include plenty of Detroit Tigers fans who will visit the ballpark to root on their team — will make a difference for the Windy City ballpark, which stands to lose without its large-scale, $8 million Miller deal.